Maintaining postural control and preventing a fall are of importance for the elderly. Falls are the second leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwide, and are especially prevalent in the elderly. Currently, individuals are often inadequately prepared to protect themselves from falls or other serious injuries as the onset of such events may come without perceptible warning. Further, maintaining postural equilibrium, i.e., prevention of a fall, involves stabilization of the body's center of mass during both self-initiated and externally triggered disturbances to postural stability during normal daily activities. Maintaining such equilibrium can be accomplished by limiting the motion of the center of mass within the base of support formed by and around the feet. Postural equilibrium is maintained through multisensory inputs. For example, loss of sensory input in the feet due to neuropathy can increase the risk of a fall, even though the necessary motor control for a corrective action of repositioning the feet may still be intact.
Differential diagnosis of balance-related conditions often takes weeks or longer and can become especially costly to perform. A typical balance-related evaluation can last 1-2 hours and require a clinician to induce symptoms of imbalance, which can be especially uncomfortable for the patient as they may begin to feel dizzy and nauseous. Further, many patients do not have complete recollection of the events leading up to and during a period of spontaneous imbalance or a fall. In addition, adherence to postural training provided by healthcare specialists is not easily monitored during normal daily activities outside of the training facility.